The Harriet Tubman Resource Centre on the
African Diaspora is a digitalized research facility that focuses on the history of the
African diaspora and the movement of Africans to various parts of the world, particularly
the Americas and the Islamic lands of North Africa and the Middle East. The Tubman Centre
is part of the Department of History, York University, and includes a digital library and
repository as well as facilities for the digitalization of materials. The research agenda
and teaching program associated with the Tubman Centre are described elsewhere on this
website.

The Resource Centre is named in honour of Harriet Tubman (1821-1913), feminist and
political activist associated with the Underground Railroad that moved thousands of Black
refugees from the United State to Canada before the American Civil War. Harriet Tubman
escaped from Dorchester County, Maryland, in 1849, and personally assisted at least 200
people in their flight from slavery.

The Centre is operated as a collective, in support of document preservation,
accessibility of primary materials, training and research. Hence the Centre is closely
associated with graduate teaching and a broad program of research in Africa and the
African diaspora. The Centre is governed by a Board of Directors consisting of the
Secretariat at York University, an Executive Committee, and the designated Network
Professors (see people). The International Advisory Board
comprises a network of scholars who are involved in various collaborative projects
associated with the Tubman Centre.

The Director, Paul E. Lovejoy, is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and
Distinguished Research Professor in the Department of History. He holds the Canada Research
Chair in African Diaspora History. He is also a member of the International
Scientific Committee of the UNESCO Slave Route Project and is Research Professor,
Department of History, University of Hull (UK).

Associate Director David Trotman, formerly Master of Founders College, at York University
and is an Associate Professor in the Department of History and the Division of Humanities.
He is Co-Director of the Text and Testimony Collective, centred at the University of the
West Indies (Mona).

The Tubman Resource Centre is located in 202-B, Founders College, on the Keele Street
campus of York University. The Centre is a repository for archival documents, tapes, maps,
and other primary materials and the location of the digitalization facilities. Materials
that are not on-line are accessible on a non-circulating basis during normal university
hours and by appointment. Some materials are subject to restrictions arising from their
donation. Some materials are accessible or will be accessible through SHADD Studies in the History of the African Diaspora Documents.
For further information, contact Nigerian@yorku.ca
and watch developments on this website.